Astral Sea


Astral Sea is a collection of poems by Australian poet Alan Gould, published by Angus and Robertson in Australia in 1981.
The collection contains 43 poems from a variety of sources, with some published here for the first time.
The collection won the 1981 NSW Premier's Literary Award – Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry.

Contents

  • "Batu Caves"
  • "The Coral"
  • "Energies "
  • "Two Sea Eagles "
  • "The Heartland"
  • "The Barbarians"
  • "The Regulars"
  • "From Pozieres"
  • "The Vinlanders : Erik Thorvaldsson"
  • "The Vinlanders : Leif the Lucky "
  • "The Vinlanders : Thorgisl Orrabeinsfostri"
  • "The Vinlanders : Thorfinn Karlsefni"
  • "The Vinlanders : Gudrid Thorbjornsdaughter"
  • "The Vinlanders : Thorhall the Hunter"
  • "The Vinlanders : Thorvald Eriksson"
  • "The Vinlanders : Freydis Eriksdaughter"
  • "The Vinlanders : Herjolfsness, Greenland, 1540"
  • "The Songs of Ymir : Birth"
  • "The Songs of Ymir : First Dream"
  • "The Songs of Ymir : Buri"
  • "The Songs of Ymir : Man / Woman"
  • "The Songs of Ymir : Second Dream"
  • "The Songs of Ymir : Death"
  • "The Tarantella"
  • "Marco Polo Remembers the Province of Kamul"
  • "Suite Irlondaise"
  • "The Grand Economy : Four Ghazals"
  • "Marine Photographs : The Sea Herself"
  • "Marine Photographs : Still Lives "
  • "Marine Photographs : Port of Melbourne Song"
  • "Marine Photographs : Valparaiso Song"
  • "Marine Photographs : Krakatoa "
  • "Marine Photographs : Their Luck "
  • "Marine Photographs : Australian Negative "
  • "Any Two Pictures "
  • "The Wave "
  • "Recalling Her Launching "
  • "Marine Photographs : Ice "
  • "Marine Photographs : Port of Melbourne "
  • "Marine Photographs : 35 Degrees S 5 Degrees W "
  • "Marine Photographs : Tropic "
  • "Marine Photographs : The Custom "
  • "Marine Photographs : Ship in a Bottle "

Critical reception

Writing in The Age Thomas Shapcott noted Gould's Icelandic ancestry and commented: "The two major sequences 'The Vinlanders' and 'The Songs of Ymir' are undoubtedly the core of this collection. 'The Vinlanders' is a set of nine Sestinas – which must make Alan Gould the most determined practitioner of this form in Australia. Determined – and successful."
In a review of a number of different poetry collections in The Sydney Morning Herald poet Jennifer Maiden noted: "Alan Gould writes formidable poems about heroism and the warriors of Norse mythology. The work has a fatalism and spiritual resonance that reminds me of Jospeh Conrad."

Awards